Blue Horizons Inc. of Morgan County presents the ninth Morgan County High School Creative Writers’ Seminar Thursday, November 21 at the Morgan Community College. The keynote speaker will be Poet Laureate David Mason of Colorado College.The event was established by Blue Horizons, a non-profit organization, to encourage and enrich the abilities of talented writers in Morgan County’s high schools. Blue Horizon is asking high school English/Language teachers to help select a designated number of students to participate in the event. How the students are selected is up to each school.However, teachers are asked to select or invite students who are both the most talented creative writers and would be most likely to benefit from and appreciate this opportunity. Teachers also are asked to focus student selections on sophomores and juniors and not to select students that participated in the seminar last year. At the event students will hear professional writers speak about their writing careers, the craft of creative writing and how to get their work published. Participating students are asked to bring a short piece of writing for the prose and poetry group sessions. Attendance will be limited for the event. Each high school is being given the opportunity to send 10 to 12 students. If a school has more students they would like to attend they are asked to call Don Dillehay at 842-4077. Once students are selected their names should be submitted to Dillehay by Wednesday, November 6.

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Mason is a resident of Manitou Springs and is an English professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. His poetry books include “The Buried Houses” (winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize), “The Country I Remember” (winner of the Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award) and “Arrivals.” His verse novel Ludlow was named best poetry book of the year in 2007 by the Contemporary Poetry Review and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and was featured on the PBS News Hour. His poetry, prose and translations have appeared in numerous publications, including Harper’s, The New Yorker, The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Mason has also co-edited several textbooks and anthologies.Other speakers include local writer Jon Erickson and Katie Collins. The writing seminar will be held from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the MCC Founder’s room. Blue Horizons provides and assists with youth activities, provides youth mentors in a variety of situations, activities for individuals with special needs, programming for youth when traditional programming is not sufficient, and programming and assistance for the spiritual development of youth.